The Jamaicans


Book Description

"Jamaicans living abroad have never forgotten their roots as is manifested in the numerous charitable initiatives undertaken each year, the consistent promotion of Jamaica in every sphere of activity, the increase flow of remittances and contribution to nation building and the overwhelming support given by Jamaicans to Jamaica's teams wherever they perform abroad. No one can read this book and not realize the inspiration it carries as it defines the attitude and the strength of the Jamaican people. We are grateful to Dr. Bryan for this well-documented study." The Most Honorable Sir Howard Cooke, ON, GCMG, GCVO, CD Governor General of Jamaica (1991-2006). "In the main the immigrants from Jamaica, while yearning to fulfill their hopes for a better life through gainful employment and the honing of their skills, seek to preserve and promote their cultural identity. They often maintain a nostalgic desire to eventually return home, but their decision will be based on the prospects for jobs, adequate remuneration, acceptable working conditions and a feeling of personal security." Bryan's treatise offers a discerning insight of the Diaspora and compelling personal stories of the journey travelled by Jamaicans in the United States. The story he tells is vital to a fuller understanding of our history. It is informative, interesting and thought-provoking. The Most Hon. P.J. Patterson, ON, OCC, PC, QC Prime Minister of Jamaica 1992-2006




The Jamaicans


Book Description




The Jamaica Reader


Book Description

From Miss Lou to Bob Marley and Usain Bolt to Kamala Harris, Jamaica has had an outsized reach in global mainstream culture. Yet many of its most important historical, cultural, and political events and aspects are largely unknown beyond the island. The Jamaica Reader presents a panoramic history of the country, from its precontact indigenous origins to the present. Combining more than one hundred classic and lesser-known texts that include journalism, lyrics, memoir, and poetry, the Reader showcases myriad voices from over the centuries: the earliest published black writer in the English-speaking world; contemporary dancehall artists; Marcus Garvey; and anonymous migrant workers. It illuminates the complexities of Jamaica's past, addressing topics such as resistance to slavery, the modern tourist industry, the realities of urban life, and the struggle to find a national identity following independence in 1962. Throughout, it sketches how its residents and visitors have experienced and shaped its place in the world. Providing an unparalleled look at Jamaica's history, culture, and politics, this volume is an ideal companion for anyone interested in learning about this magnetic and dynamic nation.




A Brief History of Seven Killings


Book Description

A tale inspired by the 1976 attempted assassination of Bob Marley spans decades and continents to explore the experiences of journalists, drug dealers, killers, and ghosts against a backdrop of social and political turmoil.




The Story of the Jamaican People


Book Description

A history of the Jamaican people from an Afro-Caribbean rather than a European perspective. Africa is at the centre of the story; for by claiming Africa as homeland, Jamaicans gain a sense of historical continuity, of identity, and of roots.




How to Love a Jamaican


Book Description

“In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once. All of them convince and sing. All of them shine.”—Zadie Smith An O: The Oprah Magazine “Top 15 Best of the Year” • A Well-Read Black Girl Pick Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret—Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to extraordinary effect in her debut collection about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home. Sweeping from close-knit island communities to the streets of New York City and midwestern university towns, these eleven stories form a portrait of a nation, a people, and a way of life. In “Light-Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands,” an NYU student befriends a fellow Jamaican whose privileged West Coast upbringing has blinded her to the hard realities of race. In “Mash Up Love,” a twin’s chance sighting of his estranged brother—the prodigal son of the family—stirs up unresolved feelings of resentment. In “Bad Behavior,” a couple leave their wild teenage daughter with her grandmother in Jamaica, hoping the old ways will straighten her out. In “Mermaid River,” a Jamaican teenage boy is reunited with his mother in New York after eight years apart. In “The Ghost of Jia Yi,” a recently murdered student haunts a despairing Jamaican athlete recruited to an Iowa college. And in “Shirley from a Small Place,” a world-famous pop star retreats to her mother’s big new house in Jamaica, which still holds the power to restore something vital. Alexia Arthurs emerges in this vibrant, lyrical, intimate collection as one of fiction’s most dynamic and essential authors. Praise for How to Love a Jamaican “A sublime short-story collection from newcomer Alexia Arthurs that explores, through various characters, a specific strand of the immigrant experience.”—Entertainment Weekly “With its singular mix of psychological precision and sun-kissed lyricism, this dazzling debut marks the emergence of a knockout new voice.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Gorgeous, tender, heartbreaking stories . . . Arthurs is a witty, perceptive, and generous writer, and this is a book that will last.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties “Vivid and exciting . . . every story rings beautifully true.”—Marie Claire




Anya Goes to Jamaica


Book Description

Anya's World Adventures Book Series, takes young readers on a tour of the world through the eyes of a child. With the help of Anya's magic globe, readers will experience the joys of travel and adventure. The first stop in the series is Jamaica. Join Anya as she learns about the food, language and culture of this beautiful country.




Wake the Town & Tell the People


Book Description

An ethnography of Dancehall, the dominant form of reggae music in Jamica since the early 1960s.




John Crow Speaks


Book Description

First publication of the esoteric shamanism of the Jamaican Elders ala Castaneda style storytelling.




Jamaican Gold


Book Description

"Riddle me this, riddle me that, guess me this riddle, and perhaps not: A we run things, things no run we. Who could that be?" One possible answer: Jamaican sprinters. Enquiring minds want to know: Why do Jamaicans run so fast? Usain Bolt may be the most recent and the most spectacular Jamaican practitioner of the art of speed, but he and Shelly-Ann Fraser stand on the shoulders of giants of both genders, heirs to a pedigree that goes back at least a hundred years to the teenaged Norman Manley and before. For years before the explosion of "Lightning" Bolt on the Beijing Olympics track, the consistent speediness of men and women from this small island had been the subject of serious and humorous speculation, pride and "su-su". What is the "gold" that is mined so consistently by Jamaican sprinters that permits the little country to claim a place among the top five countries, measured in terms of medals per capita of population, in almost every Olympics since the Second World War - and all on the basis of athletics, mostly the sprints (400 metres and under)? Can science explain it? Does the touchy area of genetics - even though, scientifically speaking, there's no such thing as "race" - explain it? For instance, all the current world record holders for the sprints - and most of the former for the past fifty years or so - have been born in the Americas, descendants of slaves of West African lineage. Is running fast "in the blood", so to speak? Or is it as simple as the varieties of yam (twenty-two at last count) to be found on the hills of Jamaica and in the stomachs of its people? Behind the simple tales of the tape are theories and questions that have attracted fourteen specialists from a range of disciplines, from biochemistry to physiology, from genetics to psychiatry, each with an insight, a piece of the puzzle. Jamaican Gold presents research and argument, history and biography - and much more - for the specialist and the sports fan, for the academic and the coach, in one attractive, easy-to-read volume, packed with photographs and illustrations, including a special section of memorable photos of the heroes of yesteryear and today. With Jamaican Gold to hand, the London Olympics will be just as thrilling, and you'll be closer to answering the question: Why do those Jamaicans run so fast?